WOOL Blog: Ram-ping Up Your Instructional Technology

When your course is created in Blackboard, it is created with a default course menu. While this menu can be useful as is, customizing the menu can help you create more intuitive navigation for your learners. [1] To begin, hover over one of the items on your course menu and click the drop-down arrow. Here you are able to rename, hide, or delete the link. Delete any items you don't need. Do note if you delete a content folder containing content, you will also delete that content. [2] To reorder the course menu, hover over an item and click on the up-down arrow beside the item you want to move until. Drag and drop the item in its new location on the course menu. (Note: If you're having issues moving items on the course menu, first try to clear your browser's cache, close the browser, and reopen Blackboard:  How to clear your cache in Chrome , How to clear your cache in Firefox ) [3] You may also add a variety of items to your course menu. You may link to a conten...

In Blackboard, the course entry point is the first page students see when they access your course. By default, the course entry point is set to the Home Page tool, show below. However, it can be more helpful for both you and your students to alter the course entry point to a location or tool more useful for your course - or even for a certain time during the semester. To change the course entry point, navigate to Teaching Style under the Customization menu. Simply choose a new entry point from the drop down menu located halfway down the Teaching Style page. That's it! You might choose to change this to another tool you make use of more often, such as Announcements or the Discussion Board. Also, know this course entry point can be updated at anytime, so consider updating to to any location that may better suite the course. For example, set the entry point to a Getting Started section for the first week of class. Once students get acclimated to the course, swit...